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“Bill Cosby went off on
another tirade against the black community Thursday …” So began an
Associated Press report on comments the comedy legend made at the
annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund
conference in Chicago this month.
It is at least possible I
might start a piece that way, if I believed it. As a columnist, I
can write any fool thing that pops into my head as long as I stay on
this side of the libel laws and don’t overly annoy my editors.
Reporters, on the other hand, have the obligation of objectivity,
which is hard to see through a smear of slurs like “tirade” and
“against the black community.”
AP isn’t alone; a quick
search of other wire services turned up a liberal dose of words like
“tirade,” “attack,” “slam,” and “berate” to describe Cosby’s
speech. And what exactly do the collected media view as an attack?
Horror of horrors, Cosby thinks black parents should teach their
children to respect women and each other, speak standard English,
and get an education.
My guess is that Cosby, who
holds a doctorate in education, would have the same advice for any
parent. In fact, he made similar comments at a recent commemoration
of the US Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education desegregation
decision in which he did not mention race, though it was also
reported as being against blacks.
How is it that the mere
suggestion of taking responsibility for oneself and one’s children
has become the mark of a turncoat? Cosby was asked if he knew his
comments had been used by some whites to knock blacks, but I haven’t
seen it. I devour the media, and the criticism I’ve seen has been
from blacks.
Not that whites and others
wouldn’t squeal if they thought Cosby was talking about their
darlings, who aren’t immune from the same ills. When New York mayor
Michael Bloomberg sought to end social promotion in schools, the
practice of moving students to the next grade regardless of whether
they are academically qualified, the loudest objections came from
parents.
The school board wasn’t much
better. Reacting to the
suggestion that third grade students who fail English or math
would no longer get a free pass to fourth grade, New York’s
Community School Board issued an official statement claiming that
banning social promotion would actually harm kids. How? By
shattering their “fragile egos” and hurting their long-term social
adjustment.
Their social adjustment? Try
adjusting as an illiterate 18-year-old who can’t add. Those kids
will find a social niche all right, maybe something in the
recreational pharmaceuticals field.
To his credit, Rev. Jesse
Jackson defended Cosby’s comments at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
event, but couldn’t resist a spin: “Bill is saying let’s fight the
right fight, let’s level the playing field.”
What Cosby actually said was
“For me there is a time ... when we have to turn the mirror around.”
Only a fool thinks racism has been eliminated, but Cosby recognizes
the playing field is more level than it’s ever been and that it is
now time to straighten out the players.
“Dogs, water hoses that tear the bark off trees, Emmett
Till,” Cosby said, reminding his audience of the price blacks have
paid for civil liberty. (Emmett Till was a black teen murdered by
racists in the 1950s). “And you’re going to tell me you’re going to
drop out of school? You’re going to tell me you’re going to steal
from a store?”
I do have one gripe with Cosby; his comments to the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition shouldn’t have
left out the rest of us. It’s an equal opportunity shoe that fits
too many.
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